Nik Altenberg graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2023 with a B.A. in Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS) and is now a multimedia journalist for Santa Cruz Local and KQED, with reporting interests including climate change and the environment, policing and incarceration, aging and healthcare, and migration.
The UC Santa Cruz news team spoke with Altenberg to learn more about their work and how their experience at UCSC helped prepare them.
Q: What do you like about journalism, and what inspired you to pursue it as a career?
A: I have always liked writing. Since I was a kid, I sort of fantasized about being a novelist, then I discovered journalism as a way to combine the craft of writing and storytelling with something that feels meaningful. For several years now, I have wanted to be an investigative journalist. Working in local reporting is helping me get closer to that goal by providing me with the opportunity to gain a wide range of experience. My work with Santa Cruz Local as a copy editor and fact checker has allowed me to wear a lot of different hats and also pitch stories.
My main motivation to pursue journalism is to be able to make the world a better place. I think that getting the truth out there is one way to help that happen. For example, right now, I’m working on a six-month project investigating pesticide use and health inequalities in Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley.
Q: How did majoring in LALS fit with your career goals?
A: I came to UCSC with the goal of becoming a bilingual journalist and honing my Spanish skills. After shopping around for majors like Spanish, linguistics, politics, and sociology, I settled on an LALS major because I appreciated the smaller department with a close-knit community. LALS punches above its weight in terms of the caliber of research coming from students and faculty. And then the opportunity to work in the Human Rights Investigations Lab at the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas sealed the deal for me on choosing this major.
I don’t think it can be overstated how helpful the lab, and in particular, Professor Sylvanna Falcón, have been to my career. We learned how to use open source intelligence (OSINT) research to investigate human rights abuses across the Americas. Since there is not a journalism program or degree at UC Santa Cruz, the lab was the next closest thing, and it was even cooler than traditional journalism, in some ways. Professor Falcón encouraged me to think about my career beyond graduation and begin preparing for it while I was in school. I don’t think I would be where I am now if she had not mentored me in the way that she did.
Q: How have you ended up applying what you learned during your time on campus?
A: In my career, being bilingual and having OSNIT research skills has been instrumental. I believe I got my first paid internship at KQED thanks in part to my experience with OSINT research. One of the interviewers said that my skill set really stood out on my resume. Since being hired, my time at KQED has been a catalyst to my career and opened up other doors for me.
In addition, I would say that LALS is an interdisciplinary field, so it teaches a really helpful way of thinking that borrows from different skills and perspectives. Journalism really lends itself to an interdisciplinary approach.
Q: What advice would you give to current LALS students at UCSC?
A: Take full advantage of all of the opportunities and resources that come with being in a research institution. The LALS Department is full of graduate students and faculty doing really cool work. Look for opportunities to be a research assistant or talk to professors about their career path. And, of course, sign up for the Human Rights Investigations Lab! Since I was a transfer student and did not live on campus, the lab was the place where I got to know my peers. While being a member of the lab was a lot of work, it was the most meaningful experience I had as a student.